The mission of the Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety (MCOHS) Education and Research Center (ERC) is to ensure a center of excellence that provides: 1) cutting-edge interdisciplinary academic and research training to prepare exceptional leaders who make significant contributions to the field of occupational health and safety, and (2) continuing education (CE) to prepare professionals in the field to address current and emerging threats to the nation's health and safety. This ERC, one of 16 nationwide, was established over 30 years ago in response to a mandate of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health -- to provide an adequate supply of qualified personnel to carry out the purposes of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and reduce the national burden of work-related injury and illness. The MCOHS, recognized regionally, nationally and internationally, for its impact, has a primary service area that includes Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North and South Dakota. This Center provides graduate degree programs, continuing education and outreach activities, that include novel distance learning technologies, and serves as a regional resource for industry, labor, federal, state, and local government agencies/agriculture, and other interested parties. Outstanding graduate and CE programs have been created in: occupational medicine; industrial hygiene; occupational and environmental health nursing; occupational injury prevention research; and occupational health services research and policy. Selected academic and CE training programs also offer innovative specialization tracks and continuing education in agricultural safety and health and hazardous substances to better meet the health and safety needs of a diverse workforce. Through these efforts, the MCOHS produces leaders who make important contributions to the safety and health of the nation's workforce. This application strengthens the MCOHS academic and research training by increasing the synergy across existing programs to result in a cohesive center that is more than the sum of its disciplinary components. Under new leadership, the Center administration builds upon successful individual programs to intensify interaction among the programs and across the Center and community partners. Innovative strategies for promoting greater interaction and collaboration include a new administrative structure with specific positions that are responsible for enhancing interdisciplinary research and academic training, outreach activities, and diversity recruitment. Numerous efforts have also been undertaken to facilitate translation of center research efforts to practice. A comprehensive strategic planning effort has been initiated under the new leadership, involving the center administration and executive committee, as well as the center advisory board, faculty, staff, students, and relevant partners. The purpose of this strategic planning effort is to ensure continued progress toward the ERC's mission to be a foremost center in the nation, recognized as a center of excellence, in occupational health and safety education and research that will continue to make significant contributions to the reduction of the national burden of work-related injury and illness. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]